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Disciple : I maintain that the physical body of the man sunk in samadhi as a result of unbroken contemplation of the Self becomes motionless for that reason. It may be active or inactive. The mind fixed in such contemplation will not be affected by the body or the senses being restless. A disturbance of the mind is not always the fore-runner of physical activity. Another man asserts that physical unrest certainly prevents activity. Another man asserts that physical unrest certainly prevents Nirvikalpa Samadhi or unbroken contemplation. What is your opinion? You are the standing proof of my statement.

Sri Ramana Maharshi: Both of you are right, you refer to Sahaja Nirvikalpa and the other refers to Kevala Nirvikalpa. In the one case, the mind lies immersed in the Light of the Self (whereas the same lies in the darkness of ignorance in deep sleep). The subject discriminates one from the other, – Samadhi, stirring up from Samadhi, and activity thereafter, unrest of the body, of the sight, of the vital force and of the mind, the cognization of objects and activity, are all obstructions to him.

In Sahaja, however, the mind has resolved itself into the Self and has been lost. Differences and obstructions mentioned above do not therefore exist here. The activitiies of such a being are like the feeding of a somnolent boy, perceptible to the onlooker (but not to the subject). The driver sleeping on his moving cart is not aware of the motion of the cart, because his mind is sunk in darkness. Similarly the Sahaja Jnani remains unaware of his bodily activities because his mind is dead – having been resolved in the ecstasy of Chid Ananda (Self).

The two words contemplation and samadhi have been used loosely in the question. Contemplation is a forced mental process, whereas Samadhi lies beyond effort.

- from Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, 13th March 1936

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When Bhagavan was living on the hill, this incident took place. Bhagavan loved children and was charmed by their innocence. He admired their lack of hypocrisy. Vajreswari, the four year old daughter of Kavyakanta Ganapathi Muni, a staunch devotee of Bhagavan and a well known Sanskrit scholar, had full liberty with Bhagavan and would insist on sitting on his lap whenever she came. Bhagavan would often call her near him, and show her affection by putting her on his lap and talking to her.

Once Vajreswari came to the Skandasramam and as usual sat on Bhagavan’s lap. As Bhagavan was holding her and talking to her lovingly, a young monkey came up to them. The young monkey apparently got jealous of Vajreswari, pushed her off Bhagavan’s lap and took her place. Vajreswari started to cry, and she pleaded with Bhagavan, “Send this monkey out, I want to sit on your lap.” But the young monkey would not give up his privileged place and continued to sit there. This rivalry between the child and the young monkey thoroughly amused Bhagavan but at the same time, he wanted to appease both of them. He turned to the young monkey and said, “Look, Vajreswari is your sister. Is she not? Let her also sit on my lap with you. Give her some room.” Then he looked at Vajreswari who was standing near him and said. “Is he not your young brother? Come on both of you sit on my lap.”

Finally both the child and the monkey sat together on Bhagavan’s lap fully satisfied and enjoyed each other’s company. Is this not a practical demonstration of Bhagavan’s great love for all beings irrespective of their forms?

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On 26th October 1947, a gentleman asked Bhagavan, “Swami, it is said that though a jnani (a realised soul) appears to be doing all the routine things, he really does nothing. How can that be explained?”

Bhagavan Ramana: “How? There is a story about it. Two friends while travelling on business slept the night somewhere, and one of them had a dream that he and his companion had gone together to several places and had done various things. On rising in the morning, the other man had nothing to say, for he had slept soundly. He merely said, “I have gone nowhere, I have been here only”. As a matter of fact, neither had gone anywhere; but the first man had only an illusion of having gone. Similarly, to those who look upon this body as real, and not unreal as in a dream, it may appear real, but strictly speaking, nothing affects the jnani”.

Those who have attained complete emancipation (jnana siddhi) merge with the universe after the bodies fall off, just as milk merges with milk, oil with oil, water with water. In the case of lower souls, because of some samskaras of latent tendencies remaining unexpired, they stay in this world, taking whatever form they please, and ultimately become merged. – Viveka Chudamani, v566

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Once a devotee asked Bhagavan Ramana, “Swami for gaining Realisation, is the enquiry ‘who am I?’ the only way ?”

Bhagavan Ramana replied “Enquiry is not the only way for gaining realisation. If one does spiritual practice (sadhana) with name and form, repetition of holy names (japa), or any of these methods with grim determination and perseverance, one becomes THAT. According to the capacity of each individual, one spiritual practice is said to be better than another and several shades and variations of them have been given. Some people are a long way from Tiruvannamalai, some are very near; some are in Tiruvannamalai, while some get into Bhagavan’s hall itself. For those who come into the hall it is enough if they are told as they step in, ‘Here is the Maharshi’ and they realise him immediately. For others they have to be told which route to take, which trains to catch, where to change, which road to turn into. In like manner, the particular path to be taken must be prescribed according to the capacity of the practiser (sadhak). These spiritual practices are not for knowing one’s own Self, which is all pervading, but only for getting rid of the objects of desire. When all these are discarded, one remains as one IS. That which is always in existence is the Self – all things are born out of the Self. That will be known only when one realises one’s own Self. So long as one has not that knowledge, all that is seen in this world appears as real.

Supposing a person sleeps in the hall, in his sleep he dreams of going somewhere, loses his way, wanders from one village to another, from one hill to another, and during that time searches without food or water. He suffers a good deal, enquires of several people and finally finds the correct place. He reaches it and feeling that he is stepping into this hall, greatly relieved he opens his eyes with a startled look. All this will have happened within a short time and it is only after he wakes up that he realises that he had not been anywhere. Our present life is also like that. When the eye of knowledge is opened, a person realises that he remains ever in his own Self”.

– extract from Letters from Ramanasramam by Suri Nagamma

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Devotees of Arunachala are well aware of Giri Pradakshina but what is Atma Pradakshina? To find out let us go back to  a certain day in May 1946 when Bhagavan was still present physically in the ashram. On that day, Sundaresa Iyer, a devotee who used to bring food for Bhagavan came and bowed before him. Bhagavan asked him, “Did you go around the hill by way of pradakshina ?” “No,  said the devotee.” To this Bhagavan said, “last night when people were going out for giri pradakshina because of the moonlight, he also started to go. But he felt he could not complete the round. When they were starting out after telling me, he went around me quickly. When I asked him why he did so, he said, I am afraid I cannot go round the hill. So I have gone around Bhagavan.” “Go round yourself. That will be Atma pradakshina”, so saying Bhagavan began laughing.

Here Bhagavan narrated a relevant story: “Once upon a time, Lord Shiva wanted to teach a lesson to his son Subramanya who fancied himself to be a great sage; so Lord Shiva sat on the top of Mount Kailasam with Parvathi, holding a wonderful fruit in his hand. Seeing the fruit, both the sons of Lord Shiva, Ganesh and Subramanya each asked their father Shiva to give it to him. To this Shiva said that he would give the fruit to whoever of them got back first after going round the whole world. With confidence and pride that he would win the race, Subramanya started immediately riding on his favorite mount, the peacock and began going at a fast pace, frequently looking behind to assure himself that his elder brother Ganesh was not following. What could poor Ganesh do, with his huge belly? His mount was after all a mouse. So he thought it was no good competing with Subramania in the race around the world, and instead went around his parents Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi, bowed before them and claimed the reward. When they asked him to justify his action he replied, “All the worlds are contained within you; so if I go around you, it is as good as going round the whole world.” Pleased with his reply, Shiva gave him the fruit and Ganesh started eating it with pleasure.

In full confidence that he would be the winner, Subramanya completed his world tour very fast and flew back to Kailash to claim his reward, the fruit from Shiva. To his consternation he found Ganesh sitting there and calmly eating it. Enraged he shouted and asked how that could be, it was unfair and he never saw Ganesh going around before him. So Lord Shiva patiently explained to Subramanya what had happened and how Ganesh came to claim the reward. After hearing this, Subramanya felt ashamed and and realised how full of vanity and pride he was. He bowed humbly before his parents and asked to be pardoned. That is the story.

The significance of this tale is that the ego which goes round like a whirlwind must get destroyed, and must get absorbed in Atma. That is the meaning of Atma Pradakshina”  finished Bhagavan.

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A seeker asked, “The ancients say that for a person who wants to know the real state, sadhana (spiritual practice), sravana (listening to the Truth), Manana (reflection on the Truth) and Nidhidhyasana (abidance in the Truth) are absolutely necessary till the very end. Is that so?”

Bhagavan replied: “They are necessary only to get rid of the various things that come from outside and that too for purposes of sadhana only, but not for realising the Self. One’s own self is there at all times and in all places. Sravana etc are to be resorted to only to get rid of external influences but if they are regarded as the most important things they will be the cause of the development of further ego such as ‘I am a learned man, I am a great man’ and the like. That is a big samsara. It is difficult to get rid of it later on. It is bigger than a wild elephant. It will not yield ordinarily.”

“For that wild elephant, it is said that Guru Kataksham (the Grace of the Guru) is like seeing a lion in its dream”, said the questioner.

“That is true. If an elephant sees a lion in its dream, it wakes up startled and will not sleep again that day for fear that the lion might appear again in a dream. In the same way in a man’s life which is also akin to a dream, it is not Guru Kataksham alone, but also sravana, manana, nidhidhyasana etc that are akin to the sight of a lion in a dream. As they go on getting these dreams they wake up, and again go to bed and by efflux of time they may some day get a lion’s dream called Guru Kataksham in an intense manner. They get startled and obtain jnana. Then there will be no more dreams and they will not only be wakeful at all times but will not give room for any dreams of life but will remain alert until that true and real knowledge is obtained. These lion’s dreams are unavoidable and must be experienced”, said Bhagavan.

With some surprise the questioner asked, “are Sravana etc and Guru Kataksham akin to dreams?”. “Yes, that is so. For those who realise the truth, everything is akin to a dream. That being so, what do you now say, is the truth? During sleep you have no control over this body. You wander about in various places with different bodies. You do all sorts of things. At that time everything appears real. You do everything as if you are the doer. It is only after you wake up that you feel that you are so and so, that what you experienced in the dream is unreal and that it was only a dream. …

…. When you are able to understand your state which had been existent all the time, you will then understand that all the rest is a dream. When that is known, the feeling that the Guru is different from you will disappear. But then, since this realisation must come about because of Guru Kataksham, that Guru Kataksham is likened to the dream of a lion. That dream must be intense and must imprint itself in one’s mind. It is only then that a proper wakefulness will come about…”

Courtesy: Letters from Ramanasramam by Suri Nagamma

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During the time when Sri Ramana used to sit in the old Hall of the ashram, one day there arrived a sadhu among the gathering. He approached Bhagavan and said, “Bhagavan! It is said that the Self (Atman) is present in everything. Does that mean that the Self is to be found, even in a dead body?” Bhagavan replied, “Oh! This is what you want to know, is it? Is it the dead body who wants to know, or is it you? Who is asking the question?. The Sadhu replied, “it is I who want to know, Bhagavan.”

Then Bhagavan explained: While you are asleep, do you wonder, Am I here or not?. It is only in the wakeful state that you say, ‘I am’. Similarly, the Self is definitely present even in a dead body. But if you enquire further, you will realise that both the dead body and the living body are equally illusory. That which moves, we label as being ‘alive’, and that which is motionless, we say is ‘dead’. The differentiation is only in our minds. In our dreams, we see both the living and the dead. As soon as we wake up, we realise that both the living and the dead of our dreams are but illusions. In the same way, this entire universe is nothing more than a grand illusion. The birth of the I thought is referred to as birth and the disappearance of the I thought is death. Both birth and death are for the ego alone. Neither birth nor death can touch the I which forms the essence of your being. When the awareness of the Self is strong, you are there; you are equally there when the self-awareness fades. It is ‘you’ that is the source of the ‘I-thought”. But the ‘I-thought’ is not you.

Realisation is nothing but perceiving the source of the cycle of birth and death, and uprooting the ego and destroying it completely. That is, you must ‘die’ and still remain aware. He who dies with awareness is transformed into pure Self. That is, when the ego dies, the Self is born. When this happens, all doubts vanish immediately. The veil of illusion is lifted and everything is perceived properly. All confusion is removed. The differentiation between birth and death, living and dead, everything disappears. The Self is all-knowing. The Self has no doubts. It is only the ego that is plagued by doubts.

– (from Cherished Memories by T.R.Kanakammal)

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M.: Ask yourself the question. The body (annamaya kosa) and its
functions are not ‘I’.

Going deeper, the mind (manomaya kosa) and its functions are not ‘I’.
The next step takes on to the question. “Wherefrom do these thoughts arise?” The thoughts are spontaneous, superficial or analytical. They operate in intellect. Then, who is aware of them? The existence of thoughts, their clear conceptions and their operations become evident to the individual. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the individuality of the person is operative as the perceiver of the existence of thoughts and of their sequence. This individuality is the ego, or as people say ‘I’. Vijnanamaya kosa (intellect) is only the sheath of ‘I’ and not the ‘I’ itself.
Enquiring further the questions arise, “Who is this ‘I’? Wherefrom does it come?” ‘I’ was not aware in sleep. Simultaneously with its rise sleep changes to dream or wakefulness. But I am not concerned with dream just now. Who am I now, in the wakeful state? If I originated from sleep, then the ‘I’ was covered up with ignorance. Such an ignorant ‘I’ cannot be what the scriptures say or the wise ones affirm. ‘I’ am beyond even ‘Sleep’; ‘I’ must be now and here and what I was all along in sleep and dreams also, without the qualities of such states. ‘I’ must therefore be the unqualified substratum underlying these three states (anandamaya kosa transcended).

‘I’ is, in brief, beyond the five sheaths. Next, the residuum left over after discarding all that is not-self is the Self, Sat-Chit-Anand

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ONE day it was suggested to Sri Maharshi that no spiritual progress could ever be made without sadhana, or discipline. After a pause he made these observations:

“Mind it is that binds man, and the same mind it is that liberates him. Mind is constituted of sankalpa and vikalpa desire and disposition. Desire is of two kinds the noble and the base. The base desires are lust and greed. Noble desire is directed towards enlightenment and emancipation. Base desire contaminates and clouds the understanding. Sadhana is easy for the aspirant who is endowed with noble desires. Calmness is the criterion of spiritual progress. Plunge the purified mind into the Heart. Then the work is over. This is the essence of all spiritual discipline!”

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D. Is solitude necessary for a Jnani?

M.: Solitude is in the mind of man. One might be in the thick of the world and maintain serenity of mind; such a one is in solitude. Another may stay in a forest, but still be unable to control his mind. He cannot be said to be in solitude. Solitude is a function of the mind. A man attached to desire cannot get solitude wherever he may be; a detached man is always in solitude.

D.: So then, one might be engaged in work and be free from desire and keep up solitude. Is it so?

M.: Yes. Work performed with attachment is a shackle, whereas work performed with detachment does not affect the doer. He is, even while working, in solitude.

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